‘The Matrix’ to be re-reloaded with a new filmmaker
'Cabin in the Woods' director Drew Goddard will head up a new instalment of the franchise.
By Kory Grow
A quarter of a century after the first Matrix movie, the franchise will be reloaded and refreshed with a script and direction by Drew Goddard, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Goddard’s enlistment represents a departure for the series, which was directed and written by the Wachowskis for the first three episodes and Lana Wachowski for 2021’s The Matrix Resurrections. Lana will serve as an executive producer for the new film.
“It is not hyperbole to say The Matrix films changed both cinema and my life,” Goddard said in a statement. “Lana and Lilly’s exquisite artistry inspires me on a daily basis, and I am beyond grateful for the chance to tell stories in their world.”
Goddard is best known for directing and cowriting The Cabin in the Woods and Bad Times at the El Royale. His writing background is more robust: Goddard penned a chunk of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Alias, and Lost episodes a couple of decades ago and wrote the screenplays for Cloverfield, World War Z, and The Martian. He also created the TV series Daredevil and wrote for it.
The plot is top secret for now, though the producing studio is promising a fresh take. “Drew came to Warner Bros. with a new idea that we all believe would be an incredible way to continue the Matrix world by both honoring what Lana and Lilly began over 25-years ago and offering a unique perspective based on his own love of the series and characters,” Warner Bros. President of Production Jesse Ehrman said in a statement.
The initial Matrix film red-pilled the world in 1999, winning four Oscars, including Best Visual Effects. “Neo’s Bullet Dodging Backbend” was also nominated for an Academy Award in 2022 for an Oscars Cheer Moment; it lost to Zack Snyder’s Justice League. The first sequel, The Matrix Reloaded, arrived in May 2003 and another, The Matrix Revolutions, followed that November. The Matrix Resurrections resurrected itself just before Christmas 2021.